Blizzard in Colorado, February 9, 2002

Name: Blizzard in Colorado, February 9, 2002
Start: 2002-02-09T07:00
End: 2002-02-09T11:00
Location: Colorado

February 9, 2002 · NWS BOU · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.

Light snow and very strong winds allowed for blizzard conditions to develop across southern sections of Washington and Weld Counties as well as northern Lincoln County. Sustained winds to 45 mph (39 kt) caused visibilities to drop to zero in blowing and drifting snow. Snowdrifts,up to 5 feet deep, were observed. Interstate 70 was closed from just east of Denver to the Kansas state line. In addition, State Highways 71 and 287 were also closed. Zero visibilities coupled with snowpacked and slick roads caused multiple accidents to occur across southern Weld County.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 9, 3:00 AM MST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 9, 3:00 AM MST, 4 hours before

NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO
300 AM MST SAT FEB 9 2002

SHORT TERM DISCUSSION:  MDLS CONSISTENT IN SPINNING SFC LOW OVER
SERN NEBRASKA/NERN KS AT 12Z...SFC LOW SHIFTS VERY LITTLE IN 12 HRS
...MOVING INTO NWRN MO BY 00Z SUNDAY.  AS A RESULT...STG SFC
PRESSURE GRADIENT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE NERN PLAINS OF
CO THRU 00Z THIS EVENING.  MESOETA BNDRY LYR WINDS IN THE NERN
PLAINS ARE PROGGED TO BE 40-45 KTS TDA. IN THE UPPER LEVELS...MDLS
FAIRLY AGREEABLE AS WELL WITH CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER WRN KS AT 12Z...
BECOMING STACKED OVER THE SFC LOW AT 00Z.  END RESULT IS A STG NLY
FLOW OVR CO AS WELL.  IN TERMS OF DYNAMICS... WEAK H5-H3 QG ASCENT
DOES LINGER ACRS NERN CO THRU THE AFTN...BUT MID LVL INSTABILITIES
ARE FAIRLY LOW.  SEE NO REASON AT THIS TIME TO SWAY FROM THE CURRENT
HIGHLIGHT PACKAGE.  AS FOR SNOW POTENTIAL ...MESOETA INDICATES LIGHT
SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS ...WITH ANOTHER AREA OF LIGHT
SNOW ALG THE PALMER DIVIDE THROUGH THE AFTN. THIS COULD BE A
POTENTIAL PROBLEM IF HEAVIER BANDS OF SNOW DEVELOP.  IF CONDITIONS
BECOME WORSE THAN ANTICIPATED...DAY SHIFT MAY NEED TO HOIST A
BLIZZARD WARNING IN A FEW PLAINS ZONES THIS AFTN.  FOR NOW HOWEVER
WILL MENTION JUST MINIMAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE
IN THE FIRST PERIOD. ASIDE FM ZNS 41...URBAN CORRIDOR SHOULD GET DRY
SLOTTED...WITH BEST SNOW POTENTIAL EAST OF THE AREA.   AS FOR
TNGT...MOISTURE WILL DECREASE AND SFC GRADIENT SHOULD START TO RELAX
DURING THE EVENING AS HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SFC AND ALOFT SLOWLY
BUILDS OVER THE STATE.  COOPER

LONG TERM DISCUSSION...SUN-MON...MDLS BLD UPR RDG OVR CNTRL RCKYS
THRU PRD.  WK SURGE OF HI PRES WILL MOVE S OVR HI PLAINS MON AFTN
INTO MON NGT IN ASSOC AS GUD SHT WV MOVES ACRS NRN RCKYS ONTO NRN
GRT PLAINS.  UPR RDG PRODUCES STG WRMG ALF FROM SUN MRNG THRU MON
MIDDAY WHICH WILL WRM SFC TEMPS RPDLY UPWRD.  WILL KEEP MAX TEMPS
CLOSR TO NGM MOS TEMP GDNC ON SUN BUT KEEP TEMPS WRMR THAN EITHER
NGM OR AVN GDNC ON SUN NGT AND MON DUE TO MUCH WRMR H7 TEMPS.

IN XTNDD PRD...TUE-FRI...MRF APPRS TO MAINTAIN LNG WV UPR RDG OVR
WRN U.S. THUR PRD.  HWVR...MRF SHOWS PCPN MOVG INTO MTNS LATE WED
INTO THU IN ADV OF SHT WV MOVG INTO GRT BASIN.  NEW MRF IS DRY ON
TUE SO WILL REMOVE ANY MENTION OF SNW MTNS.  WILL MAKE ONLY MINOR
ADJUSTMNTS TO MAX AND MIN TEMPS TO REFLECT NEW MRF MOS TEMP GDNC.

GARD...WFO BOULDER

.DEN...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY FOR THE NRN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS
       ...ZONE 35.
       HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY THE NERN CO PLAINS...ZNS 38..
       42>51.
       SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVSY TODAY FOR THE N-CENTRAL
       MOUNTAINS...ZONES 31...33 AND 34.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Washington County

When: February 9, 7:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where: Washington County forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.971, -103.201 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, N & Ne Elbert County Below 6000 Feet / N Lincoln County

When: February 9, 7:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where: N & Ne Elbert County Below 6000 Feet / N Lincoln County forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.138, -103.825 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, C & S Weld County

When: February 9, 7:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where: C & S Weld County forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.555, -104.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Colorado in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, February 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5283307, 5283308, 5283309.